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Demeure launches a marketplace for vacation home owners

Since 2009, under-the-radar company Canadian Demeure has run an online directory for vacation property owners, travelers, and property managers to communicate with each other, relying on a mix of advertising and subscription revenue.

It recently began offering a few “patent-pending innovations,” to help users book a vacation property online, list a vacation home for rental, or become an active member of a private travel club that requires membership in exchange for access to high-end properties.

Auctions allow owners to offer weeks at their properties worldwide at specified reserve prices and during specific periods as well as via bids.

Pay-With-Time lets users work out a deal with barter, by bidding with time at their own properties instead of cash

Lastly, Demeure On-Call is the name of the company’s new customer service initiative, with experts offering advice to consumers, such as on how to coordinate a trip, and to property owners, such as how to maximize yield when listing a rental.

Demeure emphasizes on high-end properties, and its travel club features only high-end luxury properties.

In 2010, the Canadian merchant bank that owns it, Laurence, paid about $14 million in cash for 10 properties to be run by Demeure’s rental management company in Chicago, Maui, Miami Beach, Tuscany, and other locations.

CORRECTION (updated Dec. 13):
One of Demeure’s subsidiaries, LGH, purchased some of the assets from bankrupt Ultimate Escapes which included 10 properties. Demeure partners with various property and rental management companies, however it does not purchase or own properties directly.